


Absolute Zero

by h00ligan



Series: Amareyes #writeLGBTQ [10]
Category: Champions (Comics), Ghost Rider (Comics), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-11-27 05:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18190499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h00ligan/pseuds/h00ligan
Summary: No matter how close you get to something, at some point you realize it exists only in theory.Part 10 in Amareyes #WriteLGBTQ: Absolute





	Absolute Zero

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set when both Robbie and Amadeus are in their mid-20s. Both still do hero work but get kicked around teams. Robbie is in the Midnight Sons with younger magic characters and Amadeus is with the Champions.

"Do you ever think about retiring? I mean, not losing your powers, but just, I don't know,  _stopping_?" Robbie helped fold up Amadeus' suit that had just come back from the dry cleaner's. Really, it was no surprise that people made their livings from fixing superhero costumes with how many bullet holes, scorch marks, and blood made their way onto them, and that was just on a normal day. 

"I don't know. I mean, I've been doing this since I was a little kid. I've  _always_ wanted to be in this... world where anything is possible. Entire pantheons exist, you protect the world from vampires and demons, the laws of physics stretch like a rubber band. I guess the wonder never really wore off for me. How about you?"

"We don't. We don't really get a choice. A spirit decides to hitch a ride in your body and not even an exorcist can get it out. Really, I just wanted to move to a better neighborhood. My grandma lives in El Paso and I haven't seen her since before my parents disappeared."

"Why haven't you gone to find her? I mean, you have that old Avengers money you've barely even touched except to put a down payment on the new house."

"At this point it's just weird, you know? 'Hi, abue, I'm your grandson you haven't seen in twenty years,  _and_ I'm gay and engaged,  _and_ you never met your other grandson, here he is, I'm sorry your younger son got horrifically shot down by cops and your older one disappeared into thin air." He shrugged. "I mean, even without powers, my family is a bit of a mess. Throw in I'm possessed by an avenging angel taking advantage of my trauma to make me think he was Eli, and I could be in a soap opera. "

"What, as a kid you never wanted this life?"

"I mean, when I was really little, sure. Good guys always win. Bad guys in jail, families intact. But then Stamford happened. I come to my foster home to some government people asking about my uncle who they said could use magic, and did fucked up shit with it. Took my blood, fingerprints, and retinal scans. Same with Gabe. Put us in their registry system because our parents at the time gave consent. For the next month, we were followed around by security. Parked outside my bedroom window in case I was a flight risk. Tailing my school bus. Put some sort of ankle bracelet on me. And the fact that there were people that thought me and Gabe deserved  _surveillance_ because of a family member who had a power we didn't made me want nothing to do with them. Gabe doesn't really remember it. He was little."

"Oh my god, I didn't know." 

"I don't talk about it because when you openly say you have beef with half of the old guard, kinda makes you seem unstable. But it's always been one of those things I questioned. What if I could get rid of them? We could have a cute house in the suburbs, a yard, a dog, foster a couple kids."

"Kids?"

"Yeah. I mean, I've never hidden that from you. It kinda takes a system kid to parent a system kid, I feel like. Let them know they're loved and not trash." He moved over to the bed. "When I was with the Avengers, when I first got in trouble, Eric told me to get out. I mean, look at him. He gave it up, reconnected with his kid. Now they live in a cute town in the Pacific northwest."

"Robbie, Fallon is in the Sons with you."

"But Eric isn't! That's what's important! And Johnny, when he lost his powers, he married his childhood sweetheart and had two kids."

"Who died because a super villain found out who Danny is. We can't just cut ties." 

"But what if we could? We could move to Alabama! Close enough to Jen in case of trouble, but what trouble comes to  _Alabama_?"

"You really thought about this, didn't you?"

"Just something to pass the time, I guess. Living a normal life. With the man I love. With kids we'd love." Robbie took Amadeus' hands. "Normal was never an option for us.  But I've been thinking about this for years, since my accident."

"Maybe small steps." Amadeus smiled slightly and kissed Robbie's forehead. "Test the water."

"I should probably start with finding abue, huh?"

"Yeah."

Robbie's cell went off. It was Billy. Something about gargoyles. Robbie sighed. "Normal won't happen for us, will it?"

"I hate to mansplain science to you, but do you know what absolute zero is? It's a theoretical low point on the Kelvin scale, the coldest things get. We keep approaching it at an asymptotic rate, but we never hit it."

"Like superheroes getting a shot at normalcy, huh?"


End file.
